Tag: AIAA CEO Clay Mowry

Trailblazing STEM Educator Amy Medina Jorge Completes Spaceflight on Blue Origin’s NS-32 Mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Clay Mowry:

“Congratulations to Amy Medina Jorge on her journey beyond the Kármán line! We are thrilled to see such a remarkable educator-astronaut make the journey of a lifetime as part of Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-32 mission. Amy is one of those teachers who literally goes above and beyond to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators.

We were honored to recognize Amy in 2023 with the Trailblazing STEM Educator Award in partnership with Challenger Center. Amy stood out due to her tireless work every day to empower students in STEM – especially those who are traditionally underserved and underrepresented. She’s given her students the chance to participate in real space experiences, leading more than 60 space experiments including developing and flying biometric sensors and performing in-flight 3D printing on a parabolic zero-gravity flight.

As a middle and high school teacher at Odyssey Academy Galveston, in Galveston, Texas, Amy is also an AIAA Educator Associate Member. Teachers like Amy are invaluable – not only to their local communities but to the space community as a whole.

Amy’s lessons are launchpads for her students’ dreams, giving them every opportunity to see their potential. Certainly, her students’ dreams were onboard with her today. What an inspiration!

AIAA applauds Blue Origin on continuing to open up access to space to more people, totaling nearly 60 commercial astronauts so far. We salute the countless aerospace professionals whose expertise has brought the New Shepard fully reusable, suborbital rocket system to this point. Reusability is the future of launch.”

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. Visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Statement on Blue Origin’s Successful NS-31 Mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Clay Mowry:

“Congratulations to Blue Origin on its 11th human flight as the all-female crew roared beyond the Kármán line, a successful NS-31 mission. It’s an exciting time in history, witnessing the number of commercial astronauts growing to more than 50 people through the New Shepard program. We’re so inspired as we hear how each crew member has been changed when they return to Earth.”

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

AIAA Announces 2025 Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14, 2025 – Tucson, Ariz. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) announced the winners of the 29th Annual AIAA Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition:

First Place ($3,000): FH Joanneum, Graz, Austria
Second Place ($2,000): Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
Third Place ($1,500): Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif.
Best Report Score ($100): University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Complete results are posted at aiaa.org/dbf.

This year marks DBF’s largest ever flyoff participation, with 1,200+ students on 97 university teams attending onsite. The flyoff was hosted by AIAA Corporate Member RTX in Tucson, Ariz. Teams from 14 countries participated in the flyoff weekend, including the U.S. with representation from 34 states.

This year’s flight objective was to design, build, and test an airplane to execute an X-1 Supersonic Flight Test Program, including the launch of an X-1 test vehicle – an autonomous glider with flashing lights. Teams also conducted a timed ground mission demonstration of the X-1 Flight Test Program.

“DBF is a highlight of the AIAA year,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “The students who compete here are the next generation of aerospace professionals. Congratulations to the winning teams!

“This year’s DBF mission is inspired by the Bell X-1 plane that Chuck Yeager flew when he broke the sound barrier in 1947. It was a feat once deemed impossible. The X-1 was powered by an XLR-11 engine build by Reaction Motors, a company spun out of the American Rocket Society, one of AIAA’s predecessor organizations in 1941. Our newly unveiled AIAA logo is inspired by the Bell X-1 breaking the sound barrier. We hope these students channel the X-1 spirit in their future careers to show the world what’s possible.” Mowry added.

Russ Althof, director of the DBF Organizing Committee, said, “We owe our thanks for the success of the DBF Competition to the efforts of many volunteers from RTX, Textron Aviation, and the AIAA sponsoring Technical Committees: Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Flight Test, and Design Engineering. These volunteers collectively set the rules for the contest, gather entries, judge the written reports, and execute the flyoff.”

The 2026 AIAA DBF Competition will be held in April 2026 hosted in Wichita, Kan., by Textron Aviation.

Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

AIAA Announces Recipients of 2025 Roger W. Kahn Scholarship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 28, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Roger W. Kahn Scholarship. The four $10,000 awards go to the following high school seniors:

Farrah Berry from Midlothian, Virginia
Currently attending Trinity Episcopal School
Kazi Afra Saiara from Fairfax, Virginia
Currently attending Chantilly High School
Logan Speight from Greensboro, North Carolina
Currently attending James B. Dudley High School
Sowmya Venkatesh from Pleasanton, California
Currently attending Amador Valley High School

Read their full profiles on the AIAA website. They will be recognized during the AIAA Awards Gala on Wednesday, 30 April, at Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DC. Tickets for the event are available now.

The Roger W. Kahn Scholarship was created to honor the memory of Roger W. Kahn (1907–1962) and his passion for aviation and entertainment. Kahn spent the latter part of his career at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation as a test pilot and then managed the technical service and sales division. In the 1940s, he was actively involved with the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (one of the predecessor organizations of AIAA) and later served as its vice president.

Kahn also was an accomplished jazz musician as early as the 1920s, composing songs often featured in stage productions and early films, as well as leading numerous orchestras. He became a recording artist for some of the first record labels including Victor, Brunswick, and Columbia.

Kahn left a legacy gift to AIAA – a song called “Crazy Rhythm” – that he wrote in 1928. AIAA used the proceeds of his trust to establish the scholarship in 2020. Since then, 16 students have received the scholarship to pursue university degrees in engineering.

“AIAA is pleased to honor the memory of aviation pioneer Roger W. Kahn. His enthusiasm for aviation nearly 100 years ago will remain relevant in the next 100 years of innovation. The scholarship that bears his name will support four more bright minds driving the next technology breakthroughs in aerospace,” commented AIAA CEO Clay Mowry.

Laura McGill, chair of the AIAA Foundation, added, “The AIAA Foundation is pleased to use part of Roger W. Kahn’s gift to identify, mentor, and promote promising young aerospace talent on their first steps from classroom to career. We can’t wait to see them shape the future of aerospace.”

Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Aviation Week’s Check 6 Podcast: AIAA’s SciTech Forum Teases Hydrogen Cycles And Gulled Wings

In a recent podcast, “Aviation Week editors Graham Warwick and Guy Norris discuss some of the breakthrough technologies and advanced concepts to emerge at this year’s AIAA SciTech Forum in Florida. They also hear from AIAA’s new CEO, Clay Mowry.”
Listen to Podcast (Aviation Week

AIAA Announces 2024 Region VII Student Conference Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 5, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Region VII Student Conference, held 25–26 November at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, and online.

Attendees presented 46 papers and represented 20 universities. The conference had a strong international presence with students from 11 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Papers presented at the conference will be published by AIAA and available on Aerospace Research Center (ARC) in January 2025.

“We are thrilled to see our student members in action during the Region VII Student Conference. It’s vital for university students to gain practical experience presenting their research findings and receiving valuable feedback from aerospace professionals,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “We look forward to seeing these students shape the future of aerospace!”

For the undergraduate, masters, and undergraduate team categories, first-place winners received a cash prize of $500 and an invitation to participate in the International Student Conference during the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum, 6–10 January, Orlando, Florida. Second-place winners received a cash prize of $300 and third-place received $250. The high school students received $100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place.

AIAA student conferences give students an opportunity to present and publish their work in front or their peers and members of the industry. The AIAA Foundation sponsors student conferences. All of the AIAA seven regions host a conference each year. The Regional Student Conferences for Regions I-VI will take place in spring 2025.

2024 AIAA Region VII Student Conference Paper Winners

High School Category

1st Place: Anay Ashwin, Haileybury College, Australia, “Venna Regolith Sample Acquisition Device – A Novel Proof of Concept for Lunar Rovers”
2nd Place: Henri Kim, Seoul Foreign School, South Korea, “Effects of Boeing 767 Winglet Types on Flight Efficiency: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach”
3rd Place: Cheney Wu and Nate Osikowicz, Cranbook Schools, United States, “An Airfoil Tensegrity Design: Concept, Algorithm Development, and Programming Implementation”

Undergraduate Category

1st Place: Said Mouhaiche and Anne Bettens, University of Sydney, Australia, “Lazily Reformulating Design Optimization as a Classification Problem”
2nd Place: Leon Phillips and Daniel Edgington-Mitchell, Monash University, Australia, “Investigating the Influence of Separate Propellant Streams in Rotating-Detonation Engine Injectors”
3rd Place: Thomas Finley and Daniel Edgington-Mitchell, Monash University, Australia, “Modelling and Schlieren Analysis of Shock Wave Reflections Over a Turbine Cascade”

Masters Category

1st Place: Zhen Hong Chai and Tulasi Parashar, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, “Performance Insights into Applied-Field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters with the Princeton AF-MPD Database”
2nd Place: Shiva Jogu and Karan Das, Amity University, India, “Mitigating Shock Wave Challenges through Secondary Recirculation in Mixed Compression Supersonic Air Intake”
3rd Place: Serika Yokoyama and Kikuko Miyata, Meijo University, Japan, “Discussion on Autonomous Sensor Data Selection Method for Planetary Rover Localization and its Verification”

Team Category

1st Place: Hardit Saini, Milcha Masresha, Andrews Agyei, Raima Rahman, Omar Abdi, Aamna Abbasi, Imad Foughali, and Eldad Avital, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, “Small Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Aerodynamic-Structural Design for Improved Performance Using Gurney Flaps”
2nd Place: Asif Hasnayeen, Md Redwan Iqbal, Farhan Syeed, Morsalin Sheikh, and Gp Capt A N Somanna, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, “Construction of a Small Fixed Wing UAV for Surveillance”
3rd Place: Lisa Dsouza, Adithya Vijay, Pranay Agrawal, Ullas AJ, Katkam Naveen, Anurag Kumar Jha, and NK Gahlot, Amity University, India, “Numerical Analysis of Pintle Nozzle Geometry Optimization for Improved Thrust in Rocket Engines”

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Announces 2025 Sustained Service Awards Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 3, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Sustained Service Awards. The award recognizes sustained, significant service and contributions to AIAA by members of the Institute.

“Volunteers are the driving force of the Institute – we couldn’t achieve our mission without the ingenuity, hands-on collaboration, and selfless service of our members,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “This year’s Sustained Service honorees exemplify servant leadership. We are grateful for their invaluable contributions to our community.”

The Sustained Service Award winners are AIAA members in good standing who have shown continuing dedication to the interests of the Institute by making significant and sustained contributions over a period of time, typically 10 years or more. Active participation and service at the local section/regional level, and/or the national level is a potential discriminator in the evaluation of candidates.

The 2025 Sustained Service Awards winners are:

Steven X. Bauer, NASA Langley Research Center
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Hampton Roads Section, Region I, and AIAA National.Bauer became an AIAA student member in his freshman year of college, 1981. He served as student branch officer and has held many positions in the Hampton Roads Section, including section chair. He was the Region I Director for six years. Bauer has worked at NASA Langley Research Center since 1983 and is retiring in December 2024.
Gene R. Dionne, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)
For his passionate, unmatched support of AIAA and the Rocky Mountain Section through volunteering across all committees.Dionne spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, mostly in space systems acquisition and technology development. He was intimate in the manufacturing, integration, test and launch/on-orbit operations of ~30 satellites, which all exceeded their mean mission durations. Dionne spent 22 years at Lockheed Martin Space in systems engineering and program management. He was selected as AIAA Fellow in 2014, and served on the Fellows Selection Committee for three years. He was AIAA Rocky Mountain Section Chair for two years and continued to assist on the section’s executive council for another 20 years as the “Fellow-at-large.”
Trevor S. Elliott, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
For prolific, dedicated, and outstanding service to AIAA forums, technical committees, student teams, outreach groups, rocketry organizations, and aerospace communities leading to numerous student-led recognitions.Elliott is a UC Foundation Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He serves as primary Faculty Advisor for the UTC Racing Mocs, SAE Chapter, and the UTC Rocket Mocs, roles where he has guided teams that have won national placement in collegiate competitions and set a world record in amateur rocketry. He is an active member of the AIAA Solid Rockets Technical Committee and Hybrid Rockets Technical Committee chair and technical discipline chair.
David C. Fleming, University of Michigan
For sustained service to the Cape Canaveral Section and Florida Institute of Technology Student Branch through continued participation, council leadership, and unwavering dedication to AIAA’s mission.Fleming earned a B.S. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park. He served on the faculty of the Florida Institute of Technology for 28 years, including a three-year term as department head. Fleming was faculty adviser of the AIAA Florida Tech Student Branch for over 25 years. Currently, he serves as Lecturer at the University of Michigan.
Aaron L. Harcrow Jr., No Box Innovations
For over 30 years of outstanding and sustained service to the Atlanta Section and Region II, contributing to the success of the Section.Harcrow joined AIAA as a student member in 1981 and regards his 42-plus-years membership as a learning experience in the many ways to volunteer for AIAA, for which there appears to be no end in sight! In addition to volunteering for AIAA, Harcrow has developed multidisciplinary skills in aerospace engineering, systems engineering, project management, innovative design, product development, CAD/CAM/CNC, computer programming, and teaching undergraduate engineering courses. He holds one USPTO patent.
Christopher J. Pestak, HX5, LLC
For dedicated service to AIAA and the field of aerospace for over 40 years, and holding significant leadership positions within AIAA.Pestak is Program Manager of the Glenn Engineering and Research Support (GEARS) contract for HX5, LLC. He manages 350 staff supporting NASA Glenn Research Center performing wide-ranging work in space and aeronautics. Spaceflight systems have been a primary focus of his 42-year career. Pestak holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering, both from Cleveland State University. He is an AIAA Fellow.
Robert W. Pitz, Vanderbilt University
For over three decades of distinguished and continuous service to AIAA, especially in national leadership roles involving publication, honors, ethics, and technical committee activities.Pitz has mechanical engineering degrees from Purdue University (B.S.) and UC Berkeley (M.S. and Ph.D.). After five years at GE Research, he joined Vanderbilt University where he is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and served as Department Chair (1998–2017). He won the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1987) and AIAA Best Paper Award in Propellants & Combustion (1996). Pitz is an AIAA Fellow. He also is a Fellow of ASME and the Combustion Institute.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Statement on Sixth SpaceX Starship Test Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 20, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Clay Mowry:

“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on its sixth test flight of Starship. We’re following with anticipation SpaceX’s progress through its rapid, iterative testing of this new launch vehicle. The engineering advances demonstrated by the SpaceX team are accelerating our return to the moon and traveling to Mars. We know the team is learning valuable lessons from the engineering data gathered during this sixth test flight.

AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who have helped design, build, and test Starship. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX for taking this step forward in shaping the future of aerospace.”

Media contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.